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Mr. Golden Sun

We had a great time on Monday, watching our partial eclipse. I’d made eclipse cookies, people brought lemonade, and we all cheered when the timer went off telling us that we were at the “most” partial. What an event! What a day! I loved best the idea that all of us were focused together on the celestial happenings, uniting us under the mantle of the Great American Eclipse. Mark your calendars for the next one on April 8, 2024. See you then.

So in trying to find something else in my sewing room, I ran across this partially finished mini quilt. What you are seeing is the very first free-motion quilting that I ever tried…

…along with the most recent free motion quilting. You can’t really tell much, but I’m glad this partially-finished quilt is now in the finished category. Check that off.

You are also seeing a “Photoshop-free” image. I’ve been dependent on Photoshop for years and years, having learned it in college when it first came out. But I decided the best way to learn new software is just to try new software. Yes, having some knowledge of what does what in these digital editing programs does help, but a new companion book is coming out in October, and they have help forums, and there is always Professor Google, if you can articulate your problem. Affinity Photo is also cheaper than Photoshop (Affinity Designer is the Illustrator equivalent).

I recently finished listening to Graham Moore’s The Last Days of Night, a book about the feud between George Westinghouse and Thomas Edison. I recommend it highly. There are lots of quotes about failure, and success, and about how, as Leo Buscaglia says:

We seem to gain wisdom more readily through our failures than through our successes. We always think of failure as the antithesis of success, but it isn’t. Success often lies just the other side of failure.

That book taught me that through multiple failures, America gained electricity, that even an early failure can be made into a finished quilt, and even though some might think my eclipse was a bust (because it was not “totality”) even a partial eclipse can be magic.

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8 thoughts on “Mr. Golden Sun”

Wasn’t it fun watching the eclipse? We had 92% here and now I’m all ready to go for the total coverage next time. Our son went up to Wyoming to the area of totality. A 5-6 hour trip took 12 hours coming home but he said it was so worth it. Except for the exhaustion at work the next day that is. Your quilt finish is so spot on for the topic. The book sounds good too. Have you read The Boys in the Boat? Just finished it and really enjoyed it.

My sister sent me a photo of an eclipse quilt that is stunning. I can’t seem to copy into here so here is the quilt title and site.
Quilt featured is Caryl Bryer Fallert Corona II. https://quiltmuseum.org/eclipse/

I watched from home, having felt that 99% was good enough. Must admit I kinda wished I’d done otherwise when a lecturer said the on a scale of 1-10, 99% is a 5. Maybe in 2024. Meanwhile I enjoyed being with neighbors. I seemed to be the only one who knew about the tree shadow ‘pinwheel’ effect. soon everyone was looking down as well as up.

I love your Mr. Sun mini and that you (and neighbors) made this so-special eclipse a time to celebrate! We were in the 86% group and it was something to behold, but I did find myself emotionally overwhelmed when I saw, on tv, totality in Madras, OR. Wonder if I’ll be around in ’24 for the next one (in our area)? Thanks for sharing the happiness!

I’m so glad for you to have made a party out of Eclipse Day! Looks like a great turnout and a good time. Also, I think you have the year incorrect for the next eclipse; it’s 2024. I hope I’m still around then. Glad you could finish your mini sun… and I’m amazed that you’ve tracked all the quilts you made. I quit tracking when I had listed more than 200 on an Excel spreadsheet. Happy you found a good book too. Leo’s quote is spot-on. I just don’t want to go through the waste of time and the effort to arrive at failure before I achieve success! 🙂

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"The creative act is not an act of creation in the sense of the Old Testament. It does not create something out of nothing: it uncovers, selects, reshuffles, combines, synthesizes already existing facts, ideas, faculties, skills." ~Arthur Koestler